Honeymoon

Aaaand... we're off!

After the reception, we booked it over to the Maricopa Manor in Phoenix. This place was amazing, perfect, all the things I ever dreamed of. The innkeeper left us some whine and champagne flutes (we brought our own Martinellis), lit candles, and in the morning brought us a breakfast basket. The place had a jacuzzi tub, mini fridge/food prep area, super fluffy robes, a little parlor.... it was amazing! Highly recommended for anyone looking for a romantic getaway in the Phoenix area.

Back Story - My parents had a jacuzzi tub on their honeymoon and took a picture of themselves (also fully clothed) in it. I decided to perpetuate the tradition!

Breakfast in a basket, brought right to our door! 

Fancy Parlor - One night didn't give us near enough time to explore everything this place had for us.

The next morning (Saturday), we went back to Mesa to open presents (THANKS GUYS!!!!), then started the first leg of our journey to San Diego in our awesome painted car.

....this probably would have been a lot more fun with a car with A/C. Skirting the Mexico border in a 110+ degree car left us both pretty dehydrated, loopy, and uncomfortable. But it was fun to get away from all of the wedding madness and back into our tried-and-true road tripping roles.

After getting some R&R, we started Monday fresh with my first trip ever to Sea World!!!!

We actually got to spend a lot of time with Baby Shamu. Super cute little guy,  we even got him to talk to us!

 I took at least 100 pictures of the orcas (I'll admit to some obsession), but here I'll post the ones that I should probably submit for a SeaWorld ad campaign contest.

Bat Ray touch tank - these guys were super friendly! To the point of jumping out of the water and freaking out the little kids around us. 

Dolphin Touch Tank!

MY FIRST TIME EVER TOUCHING A DOLPHIN!!!!! 

I was basically out of my mind hysterically happy

Holding Hands (and Jordan's finger)

 Our last night in San Diego we went to the Corvette Diner - highly recommended. This place had dressed up waitresses, decorated rooms, and fun menu items to fully deck out their 50's-70's diner theme. Definitely a highlight!

 We spent most of Wednesday driving up to San Francisco - delayed briefly by some car trouble. Luckily we got it back up and running, because the next day was my surprise dolphin Swim!

After spending nowhere near enough time with these amazing animals, we hurried back to the open road to make it up to Eureka, CA, and enjoyed an amazing ride through the Redwoods (something else on my bucket list).

We made an impromptu stop at Confusion Hill, a cute old fashioned roadside attraction - the best part of driving through the Redwoods!

(Sorry, someday I'll flip these and re-post them)

Thursday Night was spent at the Holiday Inn Express of Eureka, where the staff left us a goody basket, personal note, and Martinellis! (Our first night we were given a bottle of wine... so it was especially appreciated!)

Our Romantic Dinner that evening was at Sizzler... but the decor was very marine enthusiast friendly!

We woke up and got back on the road up US 101, winding along the ocean until we reached Coos Bay, OR. There I took Jordan through Bandon and Charleston to show him where I spent my field study at OIMB

Bandon Orca Mural!

I'd wanted to show him my favorite wooden carvings, (including the dolphin one I took a picture with my last time out here) but apparently they get switched up every year or so! Go figure

Bandon Toy Shop Fun

From Coos Bay we went over to Eugene, then just continued on our boring way to home sweet home by Friday evening. Just in time for our Oregon Reception the next day!